More than 60% of South African organisations have been found to be infected by hazardous bots, says Check Point Software Technologies report.

A "bot" is a type of malware that allows an attacker to take control over an affected computer, according to security firm Symantec.

And Check Point Software’s 2013 Security Report also says that more than half of the organisations in South Africa are infected with new malware at least once a day.

Check Point, an Israeli headquartered company founded in 1993, is a provider of software and combined hardware and software products for IT security.

Its 2013 Security Report is based on research and analysis of nearly 900 companies including 35 from South Africa. Furthermore, findings are split into Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Asia Pacific (APAC) and the Americas regarding specific insights.

According to Check Point, this report forms part of a mandate to provide insight into network security events that occurred in organisations worldwide and recommendations on how to protect against them.

Also revealed in the report was that 61% of South African organisations used a peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing application.

“The findings from the report confirm that data security and threat prevention need to be included among the top security priorities for business leaders in South Africa today,” said Doros Hadjizenonos, sales manager at Check Point South Africa, in a press statement.

“A key recommendation from these findings is adopting a security vision which redefines security as a three dimensional business process that combines policies, people and enforcement for stronger protection across all layers of security – including network, data and endpoints,” he explained.

Other findings included the surge in web 2.0 applications: the research found 91% of organisations used applications with potential security risks.

The report also says that more than half of the organisations studied had at least one potential data loss incident. And the different types of sensitive data leaked and lost, included Payment Card Industry (PCI) related information as well as HIPAA–protected health information.

“Our research uncovered many alarming vulnerabilities and security threats on networks that most organisations were not aware of,” said Amnon Bar-Lev, president of Check Point Software Technologies.

“With clearer visibility, IT professionals can now better define a security blueprint to protect their organisations from the constant stream of evolving security threats,” he concluded.